EJCHS Sports

By Chris Hamby
Correspondent
As the Eagles took the field Friday night the banner read East Jackson “Where Dreams Come True.” Unfortunately for the Eagles, that dream quickly became a nightmare as Monroe Area shut out the Eagles 62-0.
It took about two minutes for the Hurricanes to show why they are the third-ranked team in the state with a 5-play 62-yard drive as Jakia Thompson scored from 22 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
East Jackson (1-5, 0-2) went three-and-out on its first possession and this time it took Monroe Area four plays to find the end zone again, highlighted by a 35-yd touchdown run by Chandler Byron.
East Jackson’s next five possessions yielded five punts going into halftime. The Monroe Area defense held the Eagles to -5 yards of total offense in the first half. The Eagles managed one first down and that came late in the third quarter via an offsides penalty against the Hurricanes. Outside of a fumbled snap on a PAT, it was the only thing that went wrong for the Hurricanes on the night.
As for the Hurricanes they continued their scoring in the game with scoring drives of 51 yards highlighted by a beautiful 38-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Glasper, a 45-yard drive in six plays, a 40-yard drive in four plays, a 37-yard drive in three plays, a 47-yard drive in three plays, a 65-yard drive in seven plays and a 51-yard, five play drive to finish the scoring on the night.
Byron finished the night with 256 yards of total offense before being pulled at halftime. The junior varsity played the whole second half against the Eagles with a running clock. The Hurricanes also finished with 481 yards of total offense versus the Eagles’ -8 yards of total offense.
The Eagles get the week off with fall break and a frustrated coach Scott Wilkins said the break couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Everyone needs a break,” Wilkins said.
East Jackson will return to action Oct. 12 against Franklin County.

The East Jackson Eagle softball team knows where it’s headed for the Region 8-AAA tournament.
The Eagles will head to Franklin County this Saturday to begin their quest to make the Class AAA state tournament. The three-game series will conclude Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Franklin County, if the teams split Saturday’s pair of games.
“That is a tough matchup between two teams that both deserve to advance,” head coach Donnie Byrom said.
If East Jackson makes the final four teams in the region tournament, the team will make it to the Class AAA state playoffs. A loss doesn’t guarantee they’re eliminated, though. Region 1-AAA only has three teams to qualify for the state tournament, leaving one at-large bid, according to Byrom. The at-large bid will be decided by power rankings after all the region tournaments are played.
The Eagles are a No. 5 seed for the region tournament. Only Ringgold, another No. 5 seed, has a better power rankings rating than East Jackson, Byrom said.
Last week, Byrom said his team played “well” as the Eagles picked up wins over Morgan County and Monroe Area.
This week, Byrom wants his group to celebrate the seniors and their “amazing” four years at East Jackson, where the players helped “carry this program from irrelevant to one that is known around the state.”
“While we have had some disappointing losses, I am confident the girls will do their best to finish their careers strong. They enjoy the game, they enjoy each other and they have helped make it fun to be a part of the Eagle program.”
For the rest of this story see the Sept. 26 edition of The Jackson Herald.

East Jackson head volleyball coach Kortney Kurtz didn’t sugar coat the fact that her team is feeling “all the pressure” heading into the final games of the 2018 regular season.
The reason for the pressure is because Tuesday’s outcome against Hart County and Jefferson will determine the Eagles’ fate for the Class AAA state tournament. Results weren’t known before press time.
“At this point in the season, we really need to keep our heads on our shoulders,” Kurtz said. “We work hard, know the skill, and want to win, but it’s going to take focus and passion.
“We need to take control (of) our emotions for our next two games if we want the future state tournament to include us. I still see little spurts of great things happening throughout games, but now we have to take it a step further and make those spurts last a whole game. I explained to the girls that our playoffs started well before many other teams. If we even want to make it to playoffs, we had to win last Thursday against Monroe Area and we have to win at least one game (Tuesday). For many other teams like Jefferson, Jackson County and Morgan County, they are locked in and ready to go. Unfortunately, we are not and these next few opportunities will determine a whole lot for our future. We are very capable of making it to playoffs and making a good run. We still have a lot of hope, a lot of desire and a lot of passion. We just need to make it happen out on the court.”
Last Saturday, the Eagles picked up two wins in five matches. The Eagles defeated Cedar Shoals and Oglethorpe County. The Eagles dropped matches to Prince Avenue, Stephens County and Tallulah Falls.
Last week, the Eagles downed region foe Monroe Area. Mya Howard accumulated 11 kills in the win. Camille Duncan had 21 digs. Allison Lounder had 14 assists.
The team dropped matches to Eastside, Morgan County and Jackson County. All three matches were sweeps.

Running just a three-mile course, instead of the customary 3.1 miles, the East Jackson girls’ cross country team took eighth while the boys finished ninth Saturday at Winder-Barrow.
“I feel the course was a little short for all the kids,” East Jackson coach Tomy Sitton said. “I feel we ran better as a team, but we have our work cut out for us to qualify for state in late October.”
Shane Shelafoe nearly claimed his second win of the year, running a 15:07.26 in the boys’ race to finish second, less than two seconds behind winner Miguel Lopez of Gainesville.
“Shane ran a good race and got out-kicked the last part by the winner from Gainesville,” Sitton said. “I see him as being one of the top three to four (runners) in AAA.”
Sitton added that his top runner will face a big challenge at the Oct. 4 Mountain Invitational at Unicoi State Park.
Marco Flores contributed a sub-17:00 time for the boys’ squad, running a 16:21 to finish 13th. Rounding out East Jackson’s top five were Sobe Strong (38th, 17:15.87), Gabe Merk (79th, 19:05.88) and Noah Watts (80th, 19:07.99). The boys’ team was without Andree Menchaca.
On the girls’ side, Lissett Miranda led the Eagles with a time of 21:08.33, placing 15th. Others scoring were Sheena Lim (34th, 22:20.37), Tanea Davis (47th, 22:59.17), Emily Parker (52nd, 23:20.74) and Anna Fox (54th, 23:22.57).

When asked to assess his team’s Friday’s opponent, East Jackson coach Scott Wilkins said eighth-ranked Jefferson might could pass for a team playing on Saturdays rather than Friday nights.
“They’re big, fast, strong, well-coached and very athletic,” Wilkins said. “I mean, geez and crackers, it looks like a college team.”
East Jackson and Jefferson will meet for the seventh time and for the first time since 2015 when the two intra-county teams play Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Jefferson’s Memorial Stadium.
While Wilkins sees the Dragons (3-1) as a team without a discernible weakness, his young Eagles have taken some lumps recently, losing their past two games by a combined score of 105-10. The Eagles were handed a 55-0 loss to Madison County last week during a lightning-interrupted game.
“We’re working hard,” Wilkins said. “The kids are trying hard. Unfortunately, we’re in a similar situation where we were last year. We’re playing a very young team on Friday nights that’s having to match up against older, more mature, more experienced opponents. This Friday night is to be no exception.”
Though his East Jackson team has struggled this year, Wilkins points to the play of running back and defensive back Caleb Adair as a bright spot for the 1-3 team. Adair is East Jackson’s top rusher and one of its top tacklers. He also keys heavily in East Jackson’s special teams.
“Caleb Adair is playing exceptional football, both as a running back and as a defensive back,” Wilkins said. “He’s a dangerous kick returner. He’s dang good. He’s playing very well, and he plays very hard. He empties the can, so to speak, every night out. He doesn’t come off the field with anything left in him at the end of the game.”
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 19 edition of The Jackson Herald.

The East Jackson Eagle softball team hit a three-game skid over the last week after the Eagles dropped games to in-county rival Commerce, George Walton and region foe Franklin County.
“We have to tighten up our defense and increase our intensity and purpose on the field,” head coach Donnie Byrom said. “There are times you have a job to do and you need to understand that job and do it the best you can.
“We have players right now that are not taking that role and doing their job.”
Monday night’s loss to George Walton featured good pitching on both sides. But four Eagles’ errors helped aid in four George Walton runs.
“Bottom line is we both threw two-hitters, so there is no way we should lose 7-0,” Byrom said. “We seemed to have a lag in energy from homecoming celebrations the past week and just did not as a team do our job.”
Even amidst the skid, Byrom does see some players showing consistency.
“As a freshman, Isabel Harrison has been very consistent at the plate and Debra Crowe has been really working hard on the defensive end,” Byrom said. “She leaves every game having put it all on the line and is covered in dirt head to toe.
“Junior Ashlyn Trimble has been really working hard on her game as well.”
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 19 edition of The Jackson Herald.

Last Wednesday, the East Jackson Eagle volleyball team had a practice that was different than the usual routine, according to head coach Kortney Kurtz.
That practice turned out to be what the Eagles needed as they were able to sweep East Hall three sets to none. It was the first time the varsity Eagles had defeated East Hall in six years.
“The changes on Wednesday really helped the girls become a team, work hard and find their why for why they play,” Kurtz said. “With the help of a dedicated community member who wants to see this program flourish, Thursday was made possible.
“We have so much hope for this team in regards to playoffs. They have the talent, they have the want, they have the skills. It’s just up to them to put it all together for two hours every day. Thursday they played as a team. They supported one another, they encouraged one another, and they covered one another. That’s what made it possible.”
Victoria Palmer led the way on the stat sheet with 20 digs, six kills and three aces. Allison Lounder had 13 assists and five aces. Camille Duncan added 20 digs. Diana Tinoco had 11 digs and Cloe Martin had eight. Mya Howard had seven kills.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 19 edition of The Jackson Herald.

The rain fell Friday. The ball did, too.
East Jackson lost four fumbles and fell to Madison County 55-0 after a two-hour rain delay on Homecoming.
The Eagles put the ball on the ground on their third play from scrimmage Friday, and Madison County quarterback Colby Smith raced 22 yards with 10:52 to go in the first quarter to set the tone for a long night for East Jackson.
Madison County sailed the ball out of bounds on its first two kickoffs Friday to avoid getting the ball into the hands of Bryce Reeves and Caleb Adair, who can hurt opponents with their return skills. And the Eagles found some success early running between the tackles, gaining some first downs. But East Jackson turned the ball over on downs twice in the first half.
Homecoming festivities were moved to the gym Friday due to the bad weather. The clouds let loose and delayed the matchup for two hours, with the radar showing red from the northeast.
After a competitive first 10 minutes of action Friday, which started at 9:30 p.m., the Red Raiders brought the barrage of points.
Martavian Cooper scored for Madison County from 14 yards with 1:33 to go in the opening quarter to put the Red Raiders up 14-0.
Madison County piled on 20 points in the second quarter, with Jaylen Sims scoring from 40 yards, Cooper scoring again from 17 yards, and Smith hitting Kale Anderson on a 40-yard touchdown pass.
The Red Raiders wasted no time getting on the board again in the third quarter. Trey Walker returned the opening kickoff to midfield and fumbled, but Douglas Willingham scooped up the loose ball and sprinted to the end zone to put Madison County up 41-0.
The Red Raiders added two more scores, a four-yard rushing touchdown by Dayton Gresham and a 15-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Donnie Byrom decided to take a gamble.
With his team trailing Jackson County 1-0 in the top of the first inning with the bases loaded and no outs — and staring at a potential fourth consecutive loss — the East Jackson coach lifted starter Gracie Wilber and inserted a relatively unknown Kayla Silvers, who’d never dressed out with the varsity.
The young hurler made sure her coach didn’t regret the decision.
Silvers, a sophomore, delivered seven innings of relief, allowing just five hits as East Jackson (10-9, 3-5) rallied for a 5-4 win Thursday at home over rival Jackson County, which entered last week ranked No. 1 in Class AAA by MaxPreps.
“In the first inning, things weren’t going our way, and I just decided to roll the dice with her,” Byrom said, “and she pitched the game of her life.”
Silvers surrendered just one run in her lengthy relief appearance. The other three were charged to Wilber.
“She (Silvers) hit her spot 99 percent of the time the whole game, and allowed me to have an impact calling pitches,” Byrom said.
East Jackson trailed 3-1 after the first inning and 4-1 after the second, but Silvers posted five straight scoreless innings as the Eagles mounted a comeback. An infield single in the bottom of the six from Lauren Barrett tied the game 4-4, and a bases-loaded walk from Natalie Vargo later in the inning put East Jackson ahead as the Eagles earned their third region win.
“It was a team effort,” Byrom said. “We had a lot of people executing our philosophy that got us those runs. We steal one run at a time with an aggressive baserunning philosophy, and that paid off.”
Bailey Wilber led East Jackson at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI after having had limited varsity at-bats through her junior season.
“We put her in the nine-hole today, and she went 3-for-3,” Byrom said.
The coach said that Silvers and Wilber came through for their more seasoned teammates.
“We’ve had certain players that have been around that you expect big things of,” Byrom said. “But those were two girls that no one expected anything of that came out here (Thursday) and gave these seniors a great feeling — being able to beat Jackson County on their home field their last game.”
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 12 edition of The Jackson Herald.

The first week of September turned out to be a busy but successful week for the East Jackson Eagle volleyball team.
The Eagles picked up five wins total for the week and suffered only four losses. Some of the wins came in the Eagles’ own tournament on Saturday. The team took home silver in the Silver Bracket.
During the tournament, Allison Lounder accounted for 44 assists, 14 digs, 16 aces and four kills. Victoria Palmer had 23 kills, 54 digs and nine aces. Diana Tinoco had 32 digs and two aces. Mya Howard had 18 kills and one block. Camille Duncan had 58 digs.
The Eagles swept Prince Avenue and defeated Cherokee Bluff for a second time this season last Thursday. Palmer had 28 digs, 16 kills and five aces. Lounder had 30 assists and four aces.
Last Tuesday, the Eagles defeated Athens Christian in three sets and lost to Clarke Central in three sets. Palmer had 21 digs, 17 kills and two aces and Duncan had 34 digs.
If you asked head coach Kortney Kurtz how she would assess her team’s play, she will tell you last week’s play showed her a “whole new team.”
“The girls picked up their mental game in order for their physical game to shine,” Kurtz described. “They even mentioned after Thursday’s games that they felt mentally better and had their head in the game.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 12 edition of The Jackson Herald.